Hi All; Welcome back, and welcome to 2012! As of today we have completed 75 of the 180 required school days this year. We have but nine short days of classes before the end of term 2, and we close out the first semester with our usual four days of mid-year exams right after the M.L. King, Jr. weekend. I hope that all of you had a restful and rejuvenating week, and that you’re ready to launch into the rest of the year with renewed vigor! This week marks the 10th anniversary of then-president George W. Bush’s signing of the No Child Left Behind Act. This landmark federal education law introduced us to the term “AYP” and ushered in an annual testing rite of passage for most students in all states. In the last ten years testing has become a huge industry and a controversial measuring stick for school districts and individual schools. Despite widespread agreement that the goal of “all students proficient in English/Language Arts and Mathematics by 2014” is not realistic, Congress has been unable to agree on amendments or a complete reauthorization of this legislation. Due to this partisan stalemate, the Obama administration (through Education Secretary Arnie Duncan) has allowed individual states to seek a “waiver” from the more draconian consequences associated with not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (“AYP”). Most states are taking advantage of this waiver. When the NCLB law will be updated is a complete mystery; lost in entrenched partisan politics that now seem to define our country. When the law was written it was seen as a bipartisan victory for equal educational access, and a strong message that achievement gaps would be addressed and all students would be given access to high expectations. I certainly have seen the tangible positives that the law intended. School districts can no longer hide poor student performance, and an intense light is shining upon those schools that are not improving. But the unrealistic premise of 100% proficiency needs to be acknowledged, and creative thinking needs to be applied in situations when we all know there is an unlevel playing field for kids. I am not at all optimistic that this will be resolved in an election year, so any possible improvements are likely more than 12 months away. Stay tuned.
You will recall that last week I attended a conference about on-line courses offered by T.E.C. (The Education Cooperative). I learned a lot at this discussion, and not all that I learned was encouraging. Essentially, TEC has now run their on-line offerings for a year and a half, and approximately 300 student seats have been filled in about 30 different courses during those three semesters. Most of the courses had between 6 and 12 enrollees, and teachers of these courses are paid $3000 per course to run them each semester. Since the student fee for each course is $300, it requires at least 10 student sign-ups to break even. There were presentations by three different instructors who reviewed their courses, expectations, and learning experiences. In one instance an instructor revealed that only 4 students out of 12 enrolled ultimately passed the course. My sense was that the instructors were sensitive to the (possibly skeptical) view of traditional classroom teachers who might see the on-line classes as less rigorous than traditional work. Their sense was that some kids signed up with this impression also, and in the end some students just dropped the courses rather than work as hard as was required. Granted, most courses were taught at the Honors level, and required considerable student initiative and dedication. I ultimately came away from the discussion feeling that my original suspicions were confirmed. On-line courses at the high school level may work for some, but will still require considerable development and trial-and-error experimentation before they will be ready for adoption by large percentages of secondary students. The visit also confirmed the absolute critical nature of the role of the classroom teacher in motivating, monitoring, and guiding high school kids. While a small percentage of highly motivated students thrived with this format, for many it resulted in a less than comparable experience to the traditional classroom. I am anxious to watch the development of this concept in the years to come
This week’s edition of the Principal’s Roundtable will be a discussion about the challenges of educating ahighly transient population. Last week’s Statistic of the Week was a look at the number of students that have enrolled new to FHS this year, and those 172 kids pose quite a challenge in many instances. Not surprisingly, the Massachusetts DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) has recognized this challenge, and now posts a statistic for each school called the school’s “mobility rate”. In addition, the Rennie Center (a Massachusetts education policy think-tank based in Cambridge) recently published a detailed look at student mobility in Massachusetts and provided a number of recommendations for schools and school districts. You can see this very informative paper from September 2011 here. . It focuses on the significant challenges faced by the 11 “Gateway Cities” in Massachusetts that are the sources of many highly mobile students. Please try to join me with your colleagues this Tuesday, January 10 @2:15 PM in the FHS library closed classroom to discuss this issue and its implications here at FHS. The next Town-Wide PTO Meeting will be Tuesday, January 17th from 7-9:00 PM at Stapleton Elementary School. This town-wide PTO meeting will cover Bylaws, how PTO’s can update their bylaws. Elections for town-wide PTO will be coming up in March. Anyone is welcome to attend.<p> I know it seems like a long way off, but are you wondering about what options are available for students over the summer? The 10th Annual Summer Camp Fair will be held on Saturday, January 29 at Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School, 390 Lincoln Road, Sudbury, MA. The fair will go from11:00 AM – 2:00 PM. There are 80+ camps offering information on day, overnight and travel programs for students in grades K-12. Parents and students can meet and speak with representatives from these camps offering unique programs including travel, community service, arts, sports, academic enrichment and traditional camp options. Admission is free. For additional information, visit Camp. FHS Guidance Department Head Christine Luzi informs me that beginning January 9th, FHS students in grades 10 and 11 can visit their guidance counselors during the lunch block to pick up their PSAT test booklet as well as get information about signing up for the SAT, ACT and TOEFL as well as test prep. The Guidance Department will also be having a College Information Night on Thursday, February 9th for FHS Juniors and their parents, although all are welcome. Mark your calendars and plan on attending in the FHS Auditorium from 7-9:00 pm. Many of you will remember the documentary movie “Race To Nowhere” that was showing in many venues last year, including a showing sponsored by our own FTA here at FHS. If you missed it last year, you can take advantage of another local showing on Thursday, January 19th at 7:00 PM at Ashland High School. Admission is $10 and this event is sponsored by the Ashland PTO. You can purchase tickets here: Race
Remember that the last day of Term 2 is this Friday, January 13th, and our mid-year exams begin on Tuesday, January 17. Every class is required to give a mid-year exam during the exam period. Please consult the calendar section for more specific times and information.<p>
Statistic Of The Week
